Dear SURFCAM Customer,
All of us here at Surfware hope that this recession year is still finding your businesses operational and
profitable. We understand the challenges that these times are forcing us to face, namely to reduce costs
and, at the same time, increase production efficiencies. Yet even in this troubled economy, it is possible
to do these things. One of our customers, Pendarvis Manufacturing, has been able to do this by
utilizing the power of TrueMill to reduce his machining cycle times by 75% while increasing the tool life of his end mills.
Every day, after hearing testimonials such
as that of Pendarvis Manufacturing, companies are choosing to experience the benefits that SURFCAM can offer.
Thanks to this continued growth of SURFCAM, I am proud to congratulate
CAMcad Technologies of our
Surfware family of resellers on licensing the 25,000th seat of SURFCAM. All of us here at Surfware are
proud of this milestone and are looking forward to helping even more companies refine their machining processes.
Even if you already are a SURFCAM user, did you know that you can still expand its capabilities and further increase
your productivity? Have you ever wished you could capture your repetitive processes and have a simple push button solution?
Well, thanks some of the talented members of the Surfware reseller family, you can! One way is to use custom add-ins
designed specifically for your manufacturing process. These custom add-ins have been shown to make the difference when it
comes to remaining competitive while saving money.
Another method of expanding your version of SURFCAM is to transform it into a probing application. Using the
ProbeDriver plug-in, you can cut costs further
and boost efficiencies even higher by gaining higher accuracies as well as adding more confidence into a
lights-out environment.
All of us at Surfware are devoted to new and innovative ways to help you increase your productivity and we invite
you to read more about these two methods of enhancing SURFCAM in this August issue of the SURFCAM News.
With Best Regards,
Peter Marton
Sales Managing Director
Custom Add-ins for SURFCAM
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How do you increase productivity with minimal increases to costs? One way is to customize your manufacturing
process to suit your specific needs.
The process of customizing the manufacturing process is typically done with some kind of custom add-in
that is created to help in one of the following areas:
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- Achieve time compression of programming activities to accomplish in a few
seconds what would otherwise take several hours or even days using off-the-shelf CAD and/or CAM software
- Simplify complex processes enabling semi-skilled workers to produce what previously
required a skilled engineer and/or seasoned veteran CNC programmer
- Automate repetitious tasks to utilize highly skilled programmers on more productive assignments
- Provide management control of custom automated processes at remote sites via work stations or
hand-held devices across the country or around the world
With the help of SURFCAM reseller, CAMcad Technologies, many companies have successfully customized their manufacturing
processes to boost productivity and gain an advantage over the competition. Below are some examples of how CAMcad has helped
companies across different industries.
Aerospace Industry - Conversion Filter
Problem: Our client needed a way to compare hand-edited CNC code with the original CAD model. Since the final CNC
code is in machine coordinates, converting the data back into model coordinates involved several steps in an automated Excel
spreadsheet taking 8-10 hours per 2,000 hole program by someone highly skilled with Excel macro language.
Solution: A simple plug-in that runs inside the CAM system. It scans the CNC code file, bypasses
non-pertinent information, and converts the machine coordinates into geometry that is superimposed directly on the
original model for analysis. This utility processes a 2,000 point file in roughly 15 seconds.
Medical Manufacturing - Automation System
Problem: Our client making contact lenses had skilled optics engineers running a
series of "home brew" utilities to create data required by a non-standard CNC machine used
to produce custom molds. These utilities had been created to perform several unique geometric
calculations not found in any commercial CAD system, and results for each step in the process
were hand-recorded in an Excel spreadsheet.
Solution: A time reduction from 8-10 hours skilled engineering time per mold to 10-15
seconds per mold that is operated by a semi-skilled clerical worker, automatically generating a
fully FDA-compliant database log of all activities. As a result, our client is able to treat much more severe
eyesight conditions than ever before while dramatically reducing time-to-production for custom
prescriptions.
General Manufacturing - Automation System
Problem: Our client makes custom consoles for police and military vehicles containing
a series of simple mounting brackets to hold electronic equipment (radar units, scanners, radios,
etc). They had just purchased a high-performance CNC with a pallet changer, equipped with custom
multi-part fixtures, and needed a way to quickly produce any mixture of parts in batches directly
from a work list created in their on-line ordering system without having to re-program each part.
Solution: A web-enabled touch-screen-based operator interface that computes optimized
batches directly from the client's database, retrieving and assembling a custom CNC program for
each batch. The interface also presents color-coded blank representations telling the operator
how to load the fixture, plus recovery and tool life monitoring capabilities. Because the entire
system is web-enabled, management can remotely alter priorities, add custom part numbers while
the system is processing, and perform other functions on any Internet station or hand-held device.
For more information on creating custom add-ins, please contact our reseller CAMcad Technologies
at (407) 327-4975 or visit their website www.camcadtech.com.
ProbeDriver & CNC Reporter
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Whether you're a huge multinational company or Mom & Pop Machine Shop, everyone is equally concerned about costs,
implementation and support. We all want no-nonsense solutions that generate quick ROI and, if possible, capitalize on
existing equipment. In keeping with this frugal (yet competitive) thought process, we are focusing this article on a
device that most of you already have but probably aren't using but to a fraction of it's potential: the Renishaw Spindle
Probe. How does one enhance the utility of the Renishaw Spindle probe? By programming it with ProbeDriver, a SURFCAM plug-in
developed by High Tec Industrial, Inc.
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Let's take a look at some of the basic features of your spindle probe and how those capabilities grow exponentially when
simply combined with SURFCAM, ProbeDriver and CNC Reporter software tools. It's important to remember that a probe is not
only used for work piece setting, and finding what's wrong with a process, but what's right about it too!
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When you pair your Renishaw Probe with SURFCAM's ProbeDriver plug-in these are some of the benefits you will receive:
- Ease of use allows new users to confidently create programs posted from ProbeDriver in a matter of hours
- Build confidence in your machine and process
- Create extensive process control and or inspection programs comprising dozens (if not hundreds) of features using Global Selection for like attributes
- Let the probe serve as a "watchdog" and make process decisions that an operator or QC person normally would—at 2am, in a lights-out environment
- Supports Renishaw Inspection Plus
- For 5-axis and mill/turn machines with Dynamic Fixture Offsetting, let the probe align your machine to your part instead of wasting time aligning the part into the machine
- Create Best Fit scenarios with full 3D calculations
- 2- to 5-axis posts available for virtually any control including Fanuc, Haas, Okuma, Mazak, Siemens, Fagor, Roeders, Mori and Makino
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When paired with CNC Reporter, you can also:
- Not worry about parsing headaches of a normal SPC data collector/analyzer. CNC Reporter uses pre-configured template for virtually all machine types
- Collect data from your CNC machine in Real Time, including warnings for out-of-control conditions, thereby preventing potential scrapping of the part
- Monitoring of processes that are usually not reported by other 2nd Form systems, such as roughing cycles or part movement during machining
- Create an archive database of traceable quality and process results
- Determine machine performance trends from control charts
- Port the data to other analysis systems like Mini Tab, DataMyte, and Valisys
- Generate specific reports for different departments such as machine operators, QA, Production Managers, or customers—all from the same source data
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ProveDriver and CNC Reporter have been shown to improve productivity in many different industries. As one user in the Medical industry, "with the
probing programs that we now have for our Hardinge Quest Lathe, we are able to run this virtually unattended and keep our manufacturing cost down.
The last job that ran in our lathe had over 14,000 pieces. It ran for 58 days with almost no interruptions and with 100% in-process inspection,
we've seen only .0002-.0003 total variation. We are seeing CPK values that are world class. This has put us in a position to purchase another lathe,
which in today's economic uncertainty is a good place to be."
Another user, from the Aerospace industry explains how "with [ProbeDriver] you can quickly and efficiently drive your probes, CNC Reporter then
provides you with the organized and detailed information you need when you need it, which is right now. The reports generated by CNC Reporter
are more detailed, easier to manipulate, and quite frankly 'smarter' than my high priced CMM's reports. The other great thing about [ProbeDriver]
is that it runs inside my CAM system; I don't have to 'learn' another program."
For more information on ProbeDriver and CNC Reporter, please contact our reseller High Tec Industrial
at (406) 883-5651 or visit their website www.machinetoolprobe.com.